Also known as Mabon and Winter Finding. The continuing of Harvest. Now, as at Spring Equinox, the days and nights are equal once again. gardens are in full bloom and heavy with nature’s bounty. There is a slight nip in the air already and preparations begin to prepare for the long cold months which are to come. It is a time of reflection. It is a good time for gathering plants and herbs in the woods and strengthening your knowledge of herbal lore. Mabon is also a wonderful holiday to celebrate food. It is the last festival before the New Year (Samhain), and traditionally people were thankful for the fruits of the year, and for the food the gods had blessed them with. Many pagans celebrate the passing of the year with great feasts: meats, breads, wine and mead are favorites. Fall leaves and corn make great altar decorations for this celebration. Leaves used for this can then dipped in paraffin, after they are dry they can be put in a decorative jar with a sigil of protection carved on some of the leaves. Colors associated with this celebration are brown, orange, gold, and red.

At the Equinox, some become aware that this time is not the balance, or rather the order, one usually sees in nature. Nature is not really balanced. But ordered. A cyprus by the ocean grows windblown by ocean storm and wind, bowing towards the earth. That cyprus is the usual balance or order of nature – stable, poised, in harmony. ALL of nature leans like the ocean-blown cyprus towards the dark earth. But Fall Equinox is a balance of light and dark, night and day and therefore is truly an outlandish moment in time: equality, an equal balancing, an actual moment of balance.